By Adam Donnelly

Wells Gray tourism experiencing bounce-back after challenging 2017

Jul 17, 2018 | 11:54 AM

CLEARWATER — While the flames of the 2017 wildfire season never directly threatened Wells Gray Park, last summer’s extreme fire danger throughout British Columbia caused BC Parks to close the popular recreation area out of an abundance of caution.

The closure was difficult for many businesses who rely on the thousands of tourists who visit the park for their livelihoods; now a year after the closure, CFJC Today went to Clearwater to find out how those businesses have bounced back.

Dotted in water lilies, Dutch Lake is a placid paradise nestled smack dab in the middle of the community of Clearwater; for a few weeks last summer, that peace was disrupted, as wildfires crept inexorably towards the community from the south.

“We’ve been here a very long time, and we lived through the situation in 2003 when the highways were blocked,” Dutch Lake Resort owner Jon Kreke said. “Tourism season ended on August long weekend [as a result of the 2003 Louis Creek fire]. You know you don’t recover from that… there was a lot of anxiety.”

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Due to the extreme fire risk, one of the region’s most important recreational areas, Wells Gray Park, was closed for 16 days out of an abundance of caution, for fear of what would happen if wildfire broke out within the park’s boundaries.

“It was really difficult on the town and on a lot of our tourism businesses,” Tourism Wells Gray’s Marketing Manager Stephanie Molina explained. “They have a very short window in which to be open and operate, so the park closure certainly impacted [those] businesses.”

For many businesses that rely on tourism for their livelihood, those 16 days was a difficult time, as many visitors decided to bypass the community. Molina says Tourism Wells Gray is working to try and quantify how much money was lost during that time, but according to business owners, revenue took a significant hit.

“Anecdotally, different tourism businesses faced losses anywhere from 20-40%,” Molina said.

“People that rely on the park were very hard hit,” Kreke said. “Two weeks out of an eight week season is a lot.”

Now, a year after much of British Columbia sat blanketed in heavy smoke, it seems the tourism industry in Clearwater has bounced back, which is incredibly important for many business owners throughout the North Thompson Valley.

“Compared to last year, the community is certainly feeling resilient and happy that our conditions are so great,” Molina said. “The park was unaffected by wildfire, so it’s still there in all of its pristine beauty for all visitors to enjoy.”